A PLACE TO RUN TO {Jon&Scarlet}

[JONATHAN WARNER BRASS]

Even without the spoken agreement to his terms, he figured that when her hands found his shirt and pulled it off, it was all the consent he needed.

"I'll keep you around for a bit."

He tried to keep anything that seemed remotely triumphant about his expression tucked away- it wasn't hard when there were other things to occupy his mind. The way she would look away, then back at him, biting her lip. As her legs wrapped around his waist, he leaned into her, moving just as slowly as she.

"You can stay here for the night if you want... Or do you have to work?"

He paused, pushing himself back slightly, one hand resting on the waistband of her sweatpants. He had almost forgotten, and even though he still had time, hours even, to be alone with her, having to leave for work was still an inconvenience.
"Yeah..." He sighed, mouth twisting to the side.

"At least stay until I fall asleep."

He smiled- he wouldn't be losing any time with her if she was sleeping. He'd be back in the morning, although what the plan was after that, he wasn't sure. His body felt hypersensitive to her touch, the light drift of her fingertips across his skin, and he lost no more time in helping her to take off the rest of their clothes- to think that they had put them on in the first place seemed sort of silly now, when so little time had passed. Maybe it was just a metaphor for the rebirth of their relationship or something.

It was strange to consider that weeks apart could have such an impact physically. Being together was not a foreign concept for them, they moved together as perfectly as ever, but just as Scarlet had silently noticed, Jon could sense the difference. Something new born of the desperation to be together again, and the feeling of caution and hesitation that warned to not take this lightly.



Jon lay against the pillows, both arms wrapped around Scarlet's shoulders, his chin resting on the top of her head. At some point they had curled up beneath the covers, and he found his lids drooping, comforted by the warmth and knowing she was so close, fitting just right in his arms again. His phone was set to go off an hour before he had to leave, so that he wouldn't wake her up. He hadn't said much yet, but thought it best not to anyway.

At the prompting of his quietly buzzing cell phone when the sky finally darkened to a deep blue, he slid out of the bed and got his things together, glancing over frequently to make sure he didn't wake her. Considering it wasn't very late, she would probably be awake before he came back, but at least she knew where he was. He kissed her on the cheek before he left, trying to quietly move the knob of the door back into place before he left down the hallway. The morning couldn't come quick enough.

[SCARLET JOOK-LIANG LANCASTER]

That morning, Scarlet awoke alone. It was around 4 AM, which was the time she normally awoke anyway to get ready for track. She dressed in her favourite pair of running pants, tugged on a tank top and some runners, and was out the door while tying her hair up by 4:45. She took the slowest jogging pace she could, wishing the pain in her lower half to go away. They had gotten a little rough last night, apparently. Scarlet could barely remember at the moment. Just bits and pieces of an otherwise... Very nice experience.

At the track it was even worse. Running was like hell for the first time. She was never going a month without sex ever again. This was torture. She was actually begging for track to be over so she could go back to her room and rest.

When the time finally came to go home, it was 8AM. Vaguely, she remembered something about Jonathan saying he would be back in the morning. She hoped that he had either forgotten, or would let her sleep some more. She was dying. They could talk when she woke up... Or they could just avoid talking and acknowledge that they both had issues they needed to stop worrying about if they were going to make their relationship work. Either way she was fine with right now, but that was just the fatigue talking. She really did want him to ask her whatever he wanted to know about her, so they could get past this huge-ass road block in their relationship. Last night was kind of like Jonathan had never even left. But she knew deep down that this was all temporary. The talking would start, and things would be messed up for a bit until they could sort themselves out. Unless it took much less time than she was expecting it to, in which case, they could have an ordinary relationship within weeks; other than the occasional mention of when he left. Or if his parents were brought up. She wished she had a mother, but she didn't want to make Jonathan feel like she should meet his family. Especially after what seemed to have happened while he was away. She felt badly about treating him so harshly... But she seemed to have made up for it last night. Or at least convinced him that he was being a little bitch about everything.

The journey up to her room by stairs was just as horrible as her track meeting. Each stair made her feet feel like they weighed a million pounds. She just wanted to go and curl up in her bed, safe and sound.

When she got to her room, she pushed open the door, which was still half-broken, and closed it behind her, stripping down to her underwear and tank top. It was naptime for the sleepy girl. She crawled into her bed and blinked when she felt something shift next to her, gasping and jumping out of bed, flicking the light on to see what it was.
"Jon?" She rubbed her eyes sleepily. "You just walked right in and crawled in my bed?" She yawned, taking her hair out of the ponytail.

[JONATHAN WARNER BRASS]

The night shift had seemed to drag on forever, simply because he was eager to get back before she woke up, not knowing that by sunrise she was already out of her dorm. At least he was able to relax while he stocked shelves or manned the counter, mind on the encounter hours before. It was somehow better than he had remembered, he thought with a grin.

Eventually his replacement arrived, and he gathered up his few belongings- he had had to use his extra work clothes stored in the staff room, since he didn't have the time to return home first.

Walking out into the still dark morning, he headed back to the school. He could stand to miss a morning run, and besides, as far as he could remember, he had left his running stuff at her dorm anyway.
When he had climbed the drive to the school, and skirted past the buildings again, he took the stairs up to her room two at a time, bearing gifts in the form of apologetic danishes from Starbucks. He had already finished his coffee, but it wasn't doing a very good job of keeping him alert. With over twenty four hours without sleep under his belt, he found it hard to think of what he would say when he opened the door. With a sigh he pushed open the broken door, peeking in to find it empty, and no sound of the shower like last time. For a moment he worried that maybe she had left on purpose to avoid him, but after last night, it didn't really make much sense to him. He left the danishes on the dresser, sitting down on her bed, elbows perched on his knees. Five minutes. Ten minutes. She could come back at any second. Half an hour. Okay, maybe she might be taking her time. He leaned back on her bed, kicking off his shoes. He would just wait like this- he could stay awake.

Soon enough his eyes closed, and he was tangled up in her bed, slumped over as if he owned the place, still completely clothed. Lying on his stomach, one arm twisted beneath a pillow, the other hanging off the bed, he was completely out to the point that he didn't hear the door open, or foot steps cross the floor.

It was only when someone moved violently next to him, and Scarlet's voice pierced through his dreamless sleep did he twitch, letting out a grunt of confusion. Blinking at the sudden burst of light, he tried to smile, propping himself up on his elbows.

"I was going to wait up for you," He tried to point out, stifling a yawn, before pointing to the dresser. "I brought food, they're all yours." He wasn't feeling quite so tired, but was still shamelessly occupying her bed until something seemed to click. He sat up suddenly, ruffling his hair with one hand as he pushed himself out of the covers. "And you probably want your bed back..." Well, he had agreed to give her anything she wanted, he thought, holding back a rueful grin.

[SCARLET JOOK-LIANG LANCASTER]

Scarlet smiled weakly and glanced at the danishes he left out for her. She went over and picked one up, taking a happy bite out of it, before looking back to him and blinking.
"You can lay down if you want, you must not have had that much sleep." She yawned and ran a hand through her hair, sitting across from him on the other bed while she finished her danish. It was actually quite delicious, so she reached for another and stuffed it into her mouth before standing up.
"I'll be right back." She wiggled off to the bathroom to wash some of the sweat off of herself, and put on fresh deodorant, before returning to the beds and sitting down next to him.

"There." She nodded and pushed him back down, crawling in next to him. "Sorry I wasn't here. I have track every morning at five until 8." With a soft laugh, she shrugged and ran her fingers through her hair slowly, letting some of the strands fall into her eyes, before brushing them back being her ears with her fingers.
"I should have let you know, but I completely forgot." She flicked her hair around some more and sighed softly. The hair on her head had become a little less soft since she started running, but that was because she didn't have time to put the products in it that she normally did. At least it stayed in pony-tails when she ran now, though, instead of just flopping out all over the place whenever she bobbed her head too fast, or a breeze took her hair up and wouldn't let go. It was convenient, but sometimes she missed feeling her hair wiggle across her face before flying up like it was lighter than a feather. It was just a nice feeling.

She curled an arm around Jon's waist and closed her eyes, yawning loudly.
"I'm absolutely pooped. Did work go okay?" She asked sleepily, pressing her forehead against his chin as she spoke. She didn't know what else to say to him right now. She just wanted to go to sleep and not wake up until the sun was high in the sky. But they'd just talk then, too. So it was good to get some of the talking out of the way, even if it was just useless jibber-jabber.

[JONATHAN WARNER BRASS]

He watched her nibbling on a danish, still half asleep, rubbing at his cheek with one hand. He would have looked worse if not for the shower earlier, but there were still bags under his eyes, and pale look about him.

Willingly flopping back into the bed as she pushed him down, cuddling next to him, his brows shot up as she explained where she had been.
"I wouldn't apologize- getting up at five AM sounds brutal enough." His arms encircled her as she inched closer, holding on to his waist. With a soft sigh he left his eyes close as well.

"I'm absolutely pooped. Did work go okay?"

"It was fine, not much business at night. Not that there ever really is, but I'm used to it I guess." He shrugged, letting the pause hover there for a moment, not wanting to really carry on. Eyes still closed, but with a frown on his face, he shifted uneasily.
"I never asked what else you've been up to now that school's out." It felt weird, asking questions when he was otherwise so comfortable and half-asleep, talking to nothing but the wall while she was tucked against his chest. "Are you liking track?" He thought back to when they had run into each other at the park, just after she'd thrown up. He'd asked her about staying at school over the summer- which now was definitely designated a sensitive topic. He let the silence linger even longer this time, though the tension in his shoulders was obvious, just waiting until he had the guts to breach the subject.
"Does this mean that now that things are...better, you'll go home?" There was something in his voice that sounded almost like hope, like he wanted her to go to Vancouver, but it was for the right reasons in his mind. Now that they seemed to be closer to getting back on track, he didn't want to jeopardize that by putting more distance between them again, but he also didn't like the feeling that he was responsible for her not seeing her father. As far as he could tell, she hadn't been back home in awhile, and as close as she seemed to be to her dad, it would probably do her some good to be around him again.

[SCARLET JOOK-LIANG LANCASTER]

Laughing softly at the way his heart beat a little more nervously that usual, Scarlet pressed her hand to his chest and yawned loudly again, opening her eyes for a few seconds, before groaning. She had forgotten to turn out the light. Up she got, walking her little underwear butt over to the light switch, flicking it off before walking back to him. He was talking about work, then track.

"I like track well enough. It keeps me busy. Keeps me fit. Gives me something to put on my college applications." Scarlet shrugged and crawled back into bed with him, burying herself into his chest easily. When he started poking around about her home situation, she merely shook her head and laughed softly at the situation. Why was he so nervous about that? She could hear his heart beat in his chest, and it didn't sound too calm. It was actually kind of adorable how much he worried about the strangest things. How was it that he could just waltz right in and have her in his grasps again, just like that? Oh, right. She loved him, so that automatically made it all okay. Well, somewhat. It was a little annoying how easy it was to get tangled up in him again... But she liked it, just a bit.

Sighing softly, she returned her thoughts to the question. Was she going to go back to Vancouver? Nah. That opportunity was long gone. She sold her ticket online and had the money stashed away in her little tin can inside her computer desk. No, this time... This time, her father was coming to see her.
"No. I'm not going back... Not this year, anyway." She mumbled softly into the skin on his neck, before laughing at the way his body shifted uncomfortably, as if he had done something horribly wrong. She shook her head and held him in place, closing her eyes. He was so worried that he would hurt her. They needed to find a good balance of protectiveness versus bluntness.

"No, Jon. Don't feel bad." She let out a sigh and laughed softly. "My father is coming down here for a visit instead, since I never went up, and sold my open ticket, as well as yours." She paused, the laughed a bit.

"Actually, I gained 600 bucks on it, 'cause my dad bought it at a discounted price... Soooo, I've got $1200 sitting in my desk right now." She shrugged. Money was no big deal to her. She already had plans for it. She was going to help decorate his apartment. And still have money for herself.
"No worries. My dad doesn't mind coming down here. He gets here on Monday."

[JONATHAN WARNER BRASS]

He heard her quietly sigh, breath warm against his neck. It was just so Scarlet, the way she seemed to know just how to respond to his every move.

"No. I'm not going back... Not this year, anyway."

He looked vaguely disappointed, acting just as she expected him to. Once again she showed just how eerily in tune she was with him, trying to ease his guilt without him even telling her what was wrong with this picture in the first place. The news that her father was coming for a visit did make him feel a little better- he hadn't really considered that option. Then something registered.
"You already had the tickets bought?" He supposed that made sense, but he wondered when she had been planning to tell him about it before their break. Leaning back to look at her face, he fixed her with a glare. "If I knew, I wouldn't have even made you pay- I could have covered mine." Money was never something they really discussed, but he did feel a tad uncomfortable when he was driven around town by her, or she was able to buy him things when all he could give her was, apparently, heartache. At least now he only had to pay for his apartment, and he had a job to provide with, and everything he made was in his control. Hearing it was $600 only made it worse, but he elected to just continue scowling at the ceiling, flopping back against the pillows.

"No worries. My dad doesn't mind coming down here. He gets here on Monday."

"Monday?" His brows shot up, but he didn't look over, not trusting himself to look anything but surprised. After a moment of reflection, he glanced over. "Does that mean I need to make myself scarce? Because I don't mind- I mean, I wasn't expecting...Well, whatever." He waved a hand, brushing the thought away, turning over so that he was looking at her again. "I'll give you guys your space, and you can do whatever father-daughter bonding you need to do." He forced a grin; he could wait a week or two to spend time with her if it meant she'd be happier at the end of it.

[SCARLET JOOK-LIANG LANCASTER]

Scarlet blinked as he pulled her closer, going on about how he'd give them space to talk, and all this other stuff. She laughed a bit at his conclusions, before shaking her head gently, and pushing away from him so she could look at him. Weird. She had spent so much time avoiding thoughts of him, that she hadn't told her father they had broken up.

"First off," She started, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "The ticket was only $200. For one. And my dad bought it, and I paid him back, so don't worry. I sold them last-minute to a family at the airport who was desperate to get a ticket up there. Anyway. So don't worry about the money. Everything is in it's place now." She shrugged and ran her fingers through her hair, brushing it back away from the scars on her face. Her father hadn't seen them, yet. But he knew about them, and wasn't too happy they were there. He'd get over it when he saw her, though. They weren't that bad. They actually made her look kind of bad ass. That wouldn't make him any less impressed with the fact that she got them in the first place. But it'd all work out in the end.

"Secondly... I, uhm..." She itched her forehead and shrugged. "Neglected to tell my father that you left in the first place, so... He wants to meet you. And take us to dinner the first night he's here." She coughed awkwardly and looked away, putting a hand over her mouth as she laughed.

"So, would you like to come to dinner Monday night? Or do you have to work earlier than... Well, we'll probably be done around 9:30... If you want to come." She bit her lip nervously. She really wanted him to meet her dad. If her father gave the a-okay that he was an alright guy, then their relationship would definitely work out for the better. She was more of less worried that they're wind up hating each other, and then Scarlet would feel obligated to leave Jonathan. But she wouldn't leave him anyway, because she was all he had now, for the time being. His relationship with his parents might have been able to be salvaged. But she didn't know what he had done to make them not want him anymore.

[JONATHAN WARNER BRASS]

Only $200? Not as bad as he had feared, and he was sure it didn't lessen the inconvenience, but he let it go, knowing that it was over and done with.

The explanation about how she hadn't even told her father what had happened shocked him at first. The way she had made it sound before was as if he knew everything about their relationship- Jon remember having a similar conversation while they had lunch in the deserted school's kitchen, back before summer break. It just showed how much the whole thing had shaken her, he thought, frowning as he watched her tug at her hair.

"What was your excuse then, when you told him you weren't visiting? Wasn't he curious?" From what he had heard before, her dad was pretty lenient, and apparently eager to meet him, but that didn't make the prospect of first impressions any easier. Hi, I'm Jon, I hooked up with your daughter on the roof of the school just wasn't the type of thing he could start with, and sadly, most of the time it was the kind of shenanigans they got into. He was also very suspicious that this sort of information was willingly given to her dad. That should be included in his new resolution- to act more mature, and try to be a good match for Scarlet. Not that she didn't get into trouble on her own, or had a clean record before they met, but the whole 'getting serious' by sticking around demanded respect be given, and acting like an adult was refreshing anyway.

So...Monday night dinner. He sighed, already knowing that he was going to agree.
"Yeah, I'll be there. But I'm trusting you to tell me beforehand what sort of story we're throwing out here." He took her hands away from her hair, annoyed when she had continued to pluck at it. "Like that, for instance." He had a smug look as he nodded to her face, finally able to catch her with something that made her uncomfortable to bring up to a parent. "How much does your dad know about it?" He wanted to ask as many questions as possible, but that was just creating more stress. He wouldn't be happy until her father finally arrived and he was able to see for himself what sort of a man he was dealing with- then he would make a decision of how normal he was going to act, though whether that meant being himself, or being a model boyfriend, he wasn't even sure where the line was at the moment.

He sat up, stretching with a wince. Sleep was far from him now, and he couldn't seem to shake the feeling of apprehension with 'the visit' looming so close. "Does he have a place to stay? I'd offer my apartment, but that's just a bit more awkwardness than I want to force on your dad." And himself, but it felt rude to say. He was back to his usual uneasy self, worried despite the fact than in recent weeks he had done a decent job of fitting in. He guessed that was just how he was around Scarlet. She was a big part of his life again, so he had little need to abide by the conventions of what everyone else considered normal. He didn't really mind- it was much easier to be sulky and loved than cheerful and worthless, since he hadn't yet met anyone who he cared to call a close friend other than the girl lying next to him, though she was all that and so much more.

He paused, still wary of treating her harshly by pointing out the many things wrong (but perfectly welcome) with their current relationship, though a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Its kind of weird that we're having such a big milestone like meeting the family right now." He told her quietly, though soon he let his expression turn serious. "Does that bother you? I feel like I'm getting a free pass here..."